With the transition to third generation wireless networks, a multitude of mobile applications extending the availability of Internet services to a mobile environment have become available. Wireless multimedia applications, in particular, are designed to bring the spectrum of entertainment and communications options previously available only via home or corporate networks to the wireless marketplace. Such applications and services are typically data-intensive and, therefore, are best suited to run on wireless networks capable of meeting the increased data requirements. Video streaming applications, for example, allow the wireless consumers to stream content from a remote server or a home computer to a mobile device and require wireless access networks with high data handling capabilities in order to meet the minimum Quality of Service (QoS) requirements and provide a satisfying user experience. While such high-speed data network standards as EVDO are designed to meet the needs of high bandwidth mobile multimedia applications, access networks operating in accordance with specifications having lower data handling capabilities may not be suitable for initiating data-intensive application sessions, especially in light of inherent mobility of wireless consumers. Given the abundance of multi-mode devices capable of accessing wireless networks that operate on different network standards, there are times when the requested application or service and the current access network are incompatible. Correspondingly, application requests launched on inappropriate access networks result in monopolization of available system resources by incompatible application sessions.
Another access network incompatibility scenario occurs when the mobile consumer is roaming outside of its home coverage area at the time when an over the air firmware update is taking place by invoking a firmware update application of the mobile device. In this case, the resulting firmware download results in unwanted roaming charges to the consumer.